The exception to this is Miller’s Nova, but she clearly sees the writing on the wall and allies herself with the apes. The only other human characters are the dispensable, gung-ho soldiers, who all have anti-ape slogans like “Bedtime for Bonzo” and “Monkey Killer” written on their helmets and are therefore effectively racists. He’s even building an entirely pointless wall (using the apes he’s imprisoned in a concentration camp), which affords him an amusing modern-day comparison.
#PLANET OF THE APES STRONG TOGETHER SCENE FULL#
Harrelson’s Colonel is the only human character afforded any real screen-time and he’s clearly gone full Colonel Kurtz (Brando’s character in Apocalypse Now, another comparison the film makes explicit). It also doesn’t hurt that the remaining humans are a pretty horrible lot all round. Caesar, in particular, is almost messianic, a comparison the film makes explicit. Similarly, Reeves and Bomback’s surprisingly introspective script places the emotional weight on the ape characters. One such scene, between Caesar’s orangutan adviser Maurice (Karin Konoval) and a mute human girl the apes encounter (Amiah Miller as Nova), takes place entirely without dialogue and is powerfully moving. Reeves’ direction is also a key factor, particularly his use of close-ups on the ape characters, which deepen the emotional connection. Consequently, the apes seem just as real on screen as the humans. The technical achievement of the film is nothing short of extraordinary. Part of the reason that it’s so easy to cheer on the apes is that the cognitive distance between reality and special effect has all but disappeared.
Technical wizardry meets emotional weight
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